The Alcatel One Touch Pop Mega is an unremarkable Android phablet on Straight Talk that's buoyed by a clever accessory and attractive price.

It's never a good sign when an accessory overshadows the device it comes with, but such is the case for the Alcatel One Touch Pop Mega. The phone itself is an unassuming Android phablet that is utterly average in every respect aside from battery life. The 6-inch display should sate big-screen fans, but the $249 (unlocked) price and clever Buddy accessory are the real draws for Straight Talk subscribers.

So what's the Buddy? It's basically a small companion phone. Pairing the Pop Mega with a Buddy (included for free) lets users enjoy a big screen on demand and an eminently compact feature phone for replying to texts or making a quick call. The Buddy won't be useful for everyone, but having the option for free is a nice addition. Otherwise, the Pop Mega is the most smartphoneyou can get for the least money on Straight Talk.

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Design, Call Quality, and BuddyThere's not much to say about the Pop Mega's design—it's about as basic and nondescript as phones come. Size is a given (6.39 by 3.32 by 0.34 inches and 6.42 ounces), but thankfully the rounded edges and grippy finish make it easy to find a comfortable and secure grip. One-handed use is a chore; my thumb can reach about a quarter of the display without shifting my grip. Power and Volume buttons are on the right edge, and the removable back reveals a sealed 3,400mAh battery.

The 6-inch, 960-by-540-pixel LCD is one of the dullest we've seen in recent memory, boasting a measly 183ppi—you'll notice a lot of jagged text and aliased graphics. Colors appear vivid and contrast is surprisingly solid, as is the wide viewing angle. The panel itself appears to be of high quality, even if the resolution isn't up to snuff.

Straight Talk, for the unfamiliar, is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that is unique in that it piggybacks on Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, or T-Mobile networks depending on your area of coverage. You'll need to plug in your zip code when you purchase a plan, after which Straight Talk designates the appropriate carrier network. Like most MVNOs, service plans come sans contract and are typically less expensive than a comparable plan through one of the big carriers. $30 gets you 1,500 minutes, unlimited texts, and 100MB of data; $45 gets you unlimited talk and texts with 3GB of high-speed data, which is throttled to 64Kbps once you exceed your limit (there are no overages); $60 gets you the same as the $45 plan plus unlimited international calls.

The Pop Mega is a GSM phone that's best suited for AT&T's network, with support for GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), WCDMA (850/1900MHz), and LTE (700/1700MHz) networks. Our test SIM ran on AT&T's network and worked without issue in my tests. Call quality was unimpressive in my tests. Earpiece volume is sufficient for noisier, outdoor environments, but I noticed some errant hissing and popping on calls. Transmissions through the mic tend to sound somewhat muffled and overly digitized. Noise cancellation is weak here, too, letting through a lot of distracting background noise.

Also onboard are 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS radios. Wi-Fi is unfortunately limited to the 2.4GHz band, meaning you won't be able to connect to networks broadcasting on the faster, less crowded 5GHz band. Bluetooth worked well in my tests and is essential for the Buddy handset accessory.

The Buddy accessory looks like a feature phone made last decade, except it's far thinner, lighter, and more compact. It's so waifish and insubstantial that it almost feels like a mockup device. There's a standard number pad with dedicated navigation and call answer/hang-up buttons. The display is a 2-inch LCD that you can use to browse contact info, make calls, and send and receive texts.

It easily paired via Bluetooth in my tests and seamlessly let me shoot off texts and make calls, though I had to use T9 input for the former. The usefulness of a companion device like the Buddy will really depend on your smartphone use case, which will vary from person to person. For heavy callers and texters, having the Buddy lets you stash the Pop Mega in a bag, leaving your pockets less encumbered. But heavy email users or those that like to read on their phones will find the Buddy far less useful.

Call quality was decent in my tests, but earpiece volume for the Buddy is weak and transmissions through the mic sounded overly digitized. It's suitable for most phone conversations, but you'll get better results from the phone itself. Annoyingly, initiating a call on the Buddy activates the display on the Pop Mega, reducing some of the battery savings you'd expect from using the handset. You can control music on the Buddy, but I wish it also supported more notifications—for now, all you get are calls and texts.

Performance and AndroidArmed with a familiar quad-core, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB RAM, there aren't any surprises here when it comes to performance. The Pop Mega feels zippy and responsive in normal usage, and I only noticed intermittent slowdowns when jumping between multiple running apps. Home screen animations are smooth, and Web browsing performance is mostly good, with occasionally choppy or delayed scrolling. The Pop Mega is a reliable performer, but that's par for the course at this point.

Beyond an aesthetic overhaul, Alcatel makes a number of changes to the Android 4.3 software running on the Pop Mega. The notification shade is populated with oversized quick settings toggles, which might appeal to older audiences. Of the 4GB of internal storage, only 1.89GB is available out of the box. That's really limited, especially if you were planning on installing a lot of apps on the Pop Mega. There's no bloatware, at least, with only a handful of useful preloaded apps like Kingston Office and Twitter.

In a battery rundown test, where we streamed a YouTube video over LTE with screen brightness set to max, the Pop Mega lasted a respectable 7 hours, 35 minutes.

Camera and ConclusionsThe 8-megapixel, rear-facing camera isn't all that impressive, but I'd rate it above average for this price range. Shots outdoors look good, though exposure and focus can be a bit finicky. Basically, be prepared to take multiple shots to ensure you get a usable image. Colors appear a bit overly processed, giving images a slightly unnatural look. Indoors, image noise becomes an issue, but that's true of most phones in this price range. Details appear waxy under close inspection, while focus tends to be soft thanks to slow shutter speeds. Video tops out at 1080p and generally looks pretty sharp, but again, under low lighting, details start to smear under image noise.

Big-screen phone fans on Straight Talk don't have a ton of great options, which helps elevate the otherwise unimpressive Alcatel One Touch Pop Mega. You get a lot of phone for just $250, even if the display resolution leaves something to be desired. The Pop Mega delivers a modern Android phablet experience, and the Buddy accessory will be a boon for heavy callers who don't like the idea of holding a massive phone to their face. Venturing onto the unlocked market opens up more options, like the Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G, which offers a nice 6.1-inch, 720p display and outrageous battery life for $300.

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About the Author

Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010. Outside of work Eugene enjoys TV, loud music, and making generally healthy and responsible life choices.

Alcatel One Touch Pop Mega (Straight Talk)

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